For those of you who REAAALY care....

I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I've posted an update. I'm sorry. I'd love to go into a long explanation, but there is no need for it. I'm sure that most everyone who even reads this already knows why I haven't written in a while...because I have a 10 month old who is growing and developing faster than I can keep up with! So on with the blog entry....

First, I'd like to thank Ashley for the beautiful blog design! We feel so special and "personalized" thanks to her crafty and creative design! THANK YOU, ASHLEY!!! So what HAVE we been up to? Well, a lot! I guess we'll start at the beginning. Like I said, this blog entry if ONLY for the people who really like to read about our lives...cuz I have to fill in two months worth of stuff! haha! Enjoy!

We started out in early March with a visit from Poppy! He spent the weekend with us and as usual, it was an amazing visit. While sitting at Starbucks, Kaylee spotted a dog. Poppy said, "Kaylee, what does a dog say?" and don't you know Kaylee starts "barking"...now, I'm not sure it was actually a "dog" sound that she was making. Because now I know that it was actually her sound that she makes whenever she is excited. It just sounded like she was barking...haha. We also had a nice night out to dinner at Pei Wei. Kaylee is getting very good at "dining out" with her friends. If Mommy has enough puffs, she can go just about anywhere! God Bless Gerber and their invention of puffs. It's the Cadillac of Cheerios...truly.
Next up, our monthly play date with Jillian! It's been so fun to watch two babies, 3-months apart, begin to grow up and interact with each other. We try to get together about once a month...the past two times we got together were for Jillian's 1st Birthdayand a regular fun play day at our house. These girls have "girlfriends" written all over them!

I joined a "Mom's Club" finally! After complaining about the 4 walls in the house creeping in on me, and nobody to talk to but a babbling baby and a dog, I did it. It has been a life saver and a sanity finder. We play once a week with new friends at new parks, libraries and bookstores. It's amazing how much is out there for kids...I had no idea. It's crazy though, I really am starting to feel like "a mom." Here she is with her two new friends, Emily (6-mos. in the center) and Cienna (3 days older than Kaylee, on the right).

Bittersweet moment of the year...Toby is no longer coming over everyday to play. The Kraus House welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Weston, into the world on St. Patty's Day! I finished up the month of March and said good-bye to my Nanny job...for now. I wish we had a bigger house with a little bit more space so that I could take on another baby during the week, but alas, our 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom itty bitty home would not do well with 3 kids under 2-years-old. How Mommy's of multiples do it, I have no idea. So, Big Brother Toby and his little brother are home now. I miss him like crazy! And I know Kaylee does, too.

Shortly after my last post (back in February) we had "lift off"...meaning that we entered the crawling stage...oh, and did I mention that the pulling up onto things stage occurred within a few days of the crawling?! Kaylee is officially a monkey. Crawling around, pulling up and attempting to climb on EVERYTHING!!! Exhibit A:That's right! She did that ALL BY HERSELF! Perhaps I should start researching Rockclimbing for Toddlers?

More recently, like in the past two weeks...I think, we went to the Wild Animal Park with my Mom to see the Butterfly Exhibit. Kaylee watched them flutter by with "childlike wonder." It was awesome! I'm thrilled that none landed on her, because she would have grabbed the poor little guy and squeezed the life out of it! :-) Granny tried to show Kaylee how to flap her wings, but Mommy didn't get the picture in time...oh well.
And then we jumped back to the Colonial days! Our friend, Johanna (AKA the best thing that ever happened to our friend Jim), turned 25. She had an "International Birthday Potluck" and we showed up as Americans. It was awesome! When you have a mother that has an endless costume closet...why wouldn't you dress up like this? Luckily, our good friend Valerie happened to have an antique, homemade nightgown and booties from her grandfather that she let us borrow for Kaylee. Thanks, Valerie! It made the family picture "complete!"

Finally, we celebrated our first Easter as a family! We had a great morning at church and then we went to the park for a picnic. We took a beautiful but unexpected 5-mile hike around a creek/reservoir and then went home for naps and a bbq dinner. It was so nice to just spend time as a family and reflect on the day. I made a mental note that THIS is exactly what I need to make more time for. Family time. What a concept.


Did I mention that Kaylee is 100% a Daddy's girl? Man, oh man! I am in love with these two! Watching Nick in his role as a father has got to be one of my favorite things to do. She LOVES her Daddy and he LOVES his baby girl. Please Lord, protect this relationship forever! It is SO precious to me!PS...yes, Nick shaved his head. A young man at our church is fighting cancer right now. The men of the church have decided to support him by shaving their heads while he goes through the rough stage of losing his hair, due to the chemo. It's truly amazing to see what these men will do to support a brother in Christ. Please pray for Sam Reiser...that his battle with cancer will be a 100% victory!

So there you have it! Thanks for enduring the two-month long update! I promise, I'll do much better at updating from now on.... :-)

"Stay Cool!"